“Rejecting claims of a direct link between violent video games and violent behavior, Elmhurst Public Library board members Tuesday turned down requests by a small group of residents to change the library’s selection policy for violent video games. “There’s no evidence I can see between these games and violent behavior,” said library director Mary Beth Campe. Campe and board members made clear they see the inclusion of the materials in the library’s collection as an issue of First Amendment freedom of expression.” (via Chicago Tribune)

AP – “Plans to include a live nativity scene in the Springhill Branch Library’s outdoor courtyard have created some controversy in this north Webster Parish city after library officials reportedly said no to anything with “religious tones,” said Letha Dew, who’s heading up the Main Street Program’s Christmas event planning. So the nativity scene by the First Assembly of God youth group will be portrayed next month on the triangle-shaped property at the head of Main Street owned by the city of Springhill. It will be among the numerous church, choir and handbell groups spread out up and down Main Street to entice visitors to walk the area and take part in the holiday spirit.”

NYT (Adam Cohen): – “When Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote â€œFunding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It,â€ she assumed she would be protected by the First Amendment. She was, in the United States. But a wealthy Saudi businessman she accused in the book of being a funder of terrorism, Khalid bin Mahfouz, sued in Britain, where the libel laws are heavily weighted against journalists, and won a sizable amount of money.”